If action is source then version-specific tmux configuration files are sourced, if it is setenv then special (prefixed with _POWERLINE) tmux global environment variables are filled with data from powerline configuration. Action setup is just doing setenv then source.

-s, --source

When using setup: always use configuration file sourcing. By default this is determined automatically based on tmux version: this is the default for tmux 1.8 and below.

-n, --no-source

When using setup: in place of sourcing directly execute configuration files. That is, read each needed powerline-specific configuration file, substitute $_POWERLINE_… variables with appropriate values and run tmuxconfigline. This is the default behaviour for tmux 1.9 and above.

If action is command then preferred powerline command is output, if it is uses then powerline-config script will exit with 1 if specified component is disabled and 0 otherwise.

COMPONENT

Only applicable for uses subcommand: makes powerline-config exit with 0 if specific component is enabled and with 1 otherwise. tmux component stands for tmux bindings (e.g. those that notify tmux about current directory changes), prompt component stands for shell prompt.